Metal conduits, such as gas, water and oil pipelines, can fail due to age, fatigue, corrosion, abuse, neglect and when used in the environment, natural forces that can fracture or rupture the pipe. There have been many attempts in the past to provide an effective method to stopper or plug a broken conduit, such as a pipe, carrying a gas, water or oil, in order to permit repairs to be made to the broken conduit. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,919 describes inflatable stoppers that can be placed in a pipeline and inflated in order to stop gas flowing through a pipeline while repairing the pipeline. U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,429 describes inflatable plugs that can be used to isolate defined sections of a conduit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,097 describes an apparatus for damming the flow of fluid in a pipeline, where the apparatus contains an inflatable bladder. The device is placed within a pipe and the bladder is inflated, thereby sealing the pipeline. U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,811 describes a mechanical plug for forming an ice barrier in a pipeline. U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,862 describes an apparatus and method for freezing a slug of liquid in a section of a large diameter fluid transmission line that includes application of a liquid cooling fluid that evaporates in response to the transfer of heat from the transmission line.
The drawbacks of these and other known intervention systems include the time and cost connected with known well intervention techniques, and in particular in connection with intervention in sub-sea wells, and the possible fracture or damage of the conduit.
Accordingly, a need exists for compositions, methodologies and devices that allow for reversibly plugging or stopping the flow of a fluid through a conduit.